The Missionaries

The Missionaries

In a word, AMAZING. 

 At least the ones in the office where we work.

There are two Assistants to the President, a Recorder and a Commissarian.

Left, of course, is President Baird.  Such a great man in so many ways.
He has his arm around Elder Ellsworth.  Smart, mannerly, kind, always willing to stop whatever he is doing to help someone else.  Elder Ellsworth is an Arizona man.
And next to him is Elder Ito.  Elder Ito has lived Spain, and speaks three languages.  Another very smart missionary, he is also kind, patient, and easy to have around.
Elder Koesashi is on the right.

 I don’t know if all missions have a commissarian. In this mission, he is absolutely required. He has to be native Japanese and he orders supplies, reads all the bills that come in Kanji, and does all the necessary translating. I rely on him a lot. I answer the phones, and about 90% of the time the caller speaks Japanese. I say “just a minute” in Japanese and go get either him, Lee, or one of the other missionaries, all of whom speak Japanese fluently.

Meet Elder Koesashi.  He is genuine, sensitive to others' feelings, and easy to get along with.
He likes to draw pictures of the missionaries and sometimes makes
very funny and creative videos with his camera.

The recorder keeps track of all baptisms, and sends on all the referrals that come in. (I learned about that in the MTC, and it would be my job if I could read kanji. It’s a big job!) Our current recorder is also very good with taking video and photos, and turning them into a touching and interesting DVD that is sent to all the parents of missionaries shortly after they arrive. We were surprised and deeply touched when we went into our first staff meeting with the President and started to watch this DVD. It began with scenes from beautiful places throughout the Nagoya Mission boundaries and scenes of various people and missionaries in the area, but then it suddenly became ours, as we watched ourselves at the Nagoya Airport greeting and hugging President and Sister Baird, the Oldroyds, and all four of the missionaries who were there to greet us. We were touched to learn that it was our very own DVD and that it would be sent out to each of our children. It’s was wonderful

This is Elder Berrett, our recorder, from Northern California.
He is the man behind the camera when it comes to transfers.
The man who stays up all night to get the videos ready for the new missionaries to see.
The man who loves to tease Sister Barney about the great benefits of video games.
(He hasn't convinced me yet.)

These young men who are working most days in the same office with me (Lee’s office is in an adjacent room where he works with the commisarian.) are friendly and kind. They work hard; I never feel that I need to remind them to quit goofing off or to get to work. But sometimes they do some fun and funny things that make me laugh, and make me glad to see they are enjoying their time here. They have asked me numerous times if they can help me in some way. They are mannerly and get very excited if any food comes into the office. They are so cute, so responsible, so impressive. Most aren’t even 21 years old yet, but act like the best of men.

It is an honor to be a part of their lives for a little while.  And it will be fun to follow them--to see them return from their missions and become great at whatever they do.

I love what I'm doing!